Manager - Branding & Creative

Summary

The Manager - Branding & Creative leads the Firm's Branding & Creative group and is responsible for the quality, consistency and effective delivery of creative work across the Firm. The role provides creative direction and brand stewardship, leads and develops a team of creative professionals, and ensures the Firm's visual identity is applied thoughtfully and consistently across print, digital, presentation, multimedia and experiential materials.

The position serves as an adviser and brand ambassador to lawyers and business services professionals throughout the Firm, helping internal clients identify effective creative solutions to support their objectives. The Manager is also a working creative professional who will lead high-impact projects while providing broader direction, review and quality control across the group.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Essential duties and responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Lead and manage the Branding & Creative team, including senior, mid-level and junior creative professionals, as well as contingent and external creative resources.
• Provide regular creative direction, coaching, feedback and professional development to team members, fostering a collaborative culture that emphasizes creativity, accountability, knowledge sharing, high quality standards and continuous improvement.
• Lead and execute high-impact creative projects, including: firmwide campaigns and communications; major publication- and event-related visual identities; digital and multimedia initiatives; and special branding and visual identity projects.
• Serve as a trusted adviser to internal clients, helping to clarify objectives, evaluate creative approaches and recommend solutions to support business and communications needs.
• Build strong working relationships with colleagues across Business Development, Communications, Events and Recruiting, as well as with lawyers, senior business services professionals and other stakeholders throughout the Firm.
• Steward and evolve the Firm's visual brand in coordination with Firm leaders, ensuring the brand remains distinctive, relevant and appropriate for the Firm and its audiences.
• Oversee the development, maintenance and appropriate use of Firm brand assets and systems, including: brand guidelines and visual standards; PowerPoint and Word templates; photography and image libraries; digital asset management resources; social media and digital templates; event identities and materials; presentation systems; and other branded collateral and platforms.
• Take a proactive role in project assignment, prioritization and workload management across the team, balancing deadlines, complexity, skill sets and available resources.
• Evaluate and improve creative workflows, project intake, prioritization, resource allocation and related processes to increase efficiency, transparency and quality.
• Oversee contingent creative resources and external agencies and vendors, including assignment of appropriate work, quality review and monitoring of service levels.
• Proactively evaluate emerging technologies, including AI-enabled creative tools, and identify appropriate opportunities to improve creative quality, efficiency, scalability and ways of working while maintaining Firm standards.
• Support collaboration with international offices as needed and identify opportunities to extend the influence and consistency of the Firm's brand in partnership with local teams.

Qualifications

• Strong creative judgment and demonstrated ability to develop and direct sophisticated visuals across print, presentation, digital, multimedia and experiential formats.
• Significant experience leading, mentoring and developing creative professionals, including providing constructive feedback and supporting high levels of performance.
• Professional-level proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office products, including PowerPoint and Word, with the ability to execute high-quality creative work.
• Strong understanding of brand systems, visual identity, typography, layout, imagery, information hierarchy and communications design.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to prioritize competing demands, manage complex workloads and deliver high-quality work in a fast-paced professional environment.
• Exceptional attention to detail and a strong commitment to quality and consistency.
• Strong communication, interpersonal and client-service skills, with the confidence and judgment to advise lawyers, business services professionals and other stakeholders and translate business objectives into effective creative solutions.
• Experience managing external agencies, vendors and other creative resources.
• High degree of professionalism, discretion and sound judgment.

Education and/or Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communications, Marketing, Communications or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Approximately 10 or more years of relevant professional experience, including substantial experience leading creative teams, advising senior stakeholders and independently managing a creative function or significant area of responsibility.
• Experience within a law firm or other professional services environment preferred.
• Portfolio submission required during the application process.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made. In addition, the individual is expected to adhere to all policies related to maintaining Firm and client information, including information security, confidentiality and protection of Firm assets, consistent with organizational standards.

Compensation

The base salary range offered for this role will be between $160,000 and $185,000. When determining a candidate's compensation offer, elements unique to each person are taken into consideration including but not limited to skill set, experience level, performance, professional certifications, degrees and location, as well as the needs of the Firm.

The total compensation package for this position may include overtime pay, discretionary bonuses and other benefits. For a more comprehensive list of employee benefits, please visit www.sullcrom.com/employee-benefits.

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